Fresh Air

It has been a very long time since we played outside!  With all the holiday activities, traveling, frigid temperatures and a lazy pregnant mom, our poor girl has been cooped up inside for far too long!  While Zack was leaving for school today Elise followed him and and was so sad she couldn't also go outside.  I realized that it was a high of 40 degrees today so we better take advantage and get out there!

I told her that before going outside we had to get our jacket on!  Anytime I tell her about her jacket she gets excited because that means we are going somewhere!  She happily ran around the house with me to get her shoes, socks, mittens, hat and coat on.  She even posed for a picture too.  Isn't she so cute all bundled up?!

It was probably the best hour we have spent in a long time!  So easy for me!  I just followed her around for an hour as she played in the swing, crushed all the snow, and played in all of the many, many, MANY puddles we found on our way.  

By the time we got home she was SO wet from jumping in all the big deep puddles!  Her hands were as cold as ice but I think she would say it was worth it!  It was so nice to be outside for a little bit!  Tomorrow the high is 58 (what?!) so we are planning to head out to the zoo!  Can't wait!

22.2 Weeks

Currently, I am 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant.I remember doing a post when I was pregnant with Elise at 23 weeks so I thought it would be fun to compare belly's and finally put up a belly picture!  I think I am a tad bit bigger with this baby, which is to be expected!  It is my second pregnancy so my belly is easier to stretch out, and it's a boy, so I'm going to guess that he will be bigger than his sister!  What do you think?

    I had Zack take the picture and as soon as Elise saw the camera she came over by me and got her "cheese" face on.  She is so cute, I love that little girl!

Since it's Friday, I'll give you 4 more things from our week!

-We've had some EXTREMELY cold weather lately (and I know it's not just us!). We've had temperatures that were 4 degrees as the high of the day!  It's starting to warm up so I hope we are back to regular cold winter and not this arctic air!  It keeps killing my car battery, so I need it to warm up!

-We were invited over last night to play Bang! with some of our neighbors.  I had never played it before but we had a fun time!  I was killed first but through a card drawn I was able to come back to life and win the game!  

-I've signed up to take a serger class on the website craftsy.com.  I've been a slacker and have slowly but surely getting all my supplies ready to get started!  If my car will start one of these days I'll get all my fabric and finally get going!  Sorry Erin that I'm so slow!

-I found the recipe for Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta on pinterest and decided to give it a go!  It was a success!!  It was a very simple dinner to prepare, and also delicious.  If you need a quick meal to make- do this one!

My 27th Birthday

My birthday was last Saturday and so far, it went off with a bang!  Zack has a big test on Monday so I knew he would be studying all weekend long.  I decided that rather than pout about the fact that he would be gone I would plan my own party :)  I emailed some of my girlfriends and we were able to get a fun group together!  

Katie, Jenn, Me, Emily and Sarah

I chose to have us get dinner at The Chancery.  It is a local Wisconsin restaurant chain and it has super yummy burgers.  I was the only one who had ever been before, so I hope the other girls liked it!  It was fun to be out without the kids and even the husbands so we could all get some girl time in!  They even made sure that I was sang to and that I got my free cream puff!

After dinner we took a short break while I picked up Elise and got her bathed and put down for bed.  Then I invited all the girls back over for more treats and a movie!  Sarah was so sweet and offered to do the cake for me. She did not disappoint!  This cake was so delicious and rich I could barley finish my piece!

We finished the night off with the movie Pitch Perfect.  None of us had ever seen it before and we all thought it was a pretty funny show!  Certainly a great one to watch with a fun group of girls.  I had a great birthday!  Thanks again ladies for humoring me and joining me in the fun!  It wouldn't have been the same without you!

Zack did promise to make it up to me that he had to study all weekend so I'm sure we'll have more birthday fun next weekend!!  I love when birthdays last all week long!

Making Changes!

There are a few things we've been doing differently around our home lately.  Zack asked me if we could start making some healthy smoothies in the morning.  I love smoothies, so this was not a hard sell!  I've seen recipes all over the web for different Green Monster Smoothies so this week we've been trying our hand at some of our own!

As evidenced by her face, Miss Elise thinks that these smoothies are the best thing ever!  I have to agree, they are pretty delicious, and better yet, healthy!  Here is what we have been putting our ours:

Ice

Strawberries

Blueberries

Mangoes

Oranges

Banana

Flax Seed

Honey

Plain Yogurt

Spinach

I blend that up and babysit it and stir for about 7 minutes (sadly, we don't have one of those awesome Blendtec blenders) and eventually it turns into that delicious purple drink!  Yummm!

Other things we are changing is Elise's sleeping arrangement!  With baby boy coming in a few months we decided we should start to try and transition her out of her crib and into a big girl bed!  I know not everyone thinks that toddler beds are the most practical thing but we found one for Elise on craigslist that was only $40 for the bed AND mattress! We thought it was a steal and jumped on it!

I spent a good part of yesterday re-organizing, cleaning, and de-junking Elise's bedroom so everything can fit!  I also moved a lot of toys that she is too big to play with out of her room and now most of her toys fit in her closet instead of the floor. 

Elise hasn't slept in the toddler bed just yet.  We moved it in there for her to get used to the idea. I also checked out some books from the library about it and I'll read those to her.  Once Zack's test is over we'll start asking her if she wants to sleep in her crib or her bed and hopefully, it will be a smooth transition. 

We have been needing a bookshelf for a while now and I found the perfect one yesterday!  We moved the changing table out of Elise's room and put this in its place.  I love seeing all of our books displayed and Elise thinks it's fun to pick out books too.  

Other big changes on the way- we'd like to get rid of her binky before the baby comes!  I checked out some books on this topic too.  I'm hoping we can at least try having them only at bedtime!  Wish us luck!

Five on Friday!

-We are all back safe in Wisconsin.  Zack has been here since the 6th and Elise and I joined him the evening of the 9th.  It is always sad to leave family but it's nice to be back in our own beds!

-Elise's new favorite show is Go, Diego, Go!  Most kids are into Dora but this girl loves her Diego.  I think she wants us to name our baby that!  I think she likes it so much because he is an animal rescuer.  She loves animals and learning more about them.

-Speaking of Elise, one of her favorite things to do these days is give hugs.  She will walk into a room or see someone and go up to them and say "Hug, hug" and reach up for you to give her one.  We love it, what a sweet girl.

-Zack started up school once again but we are taking comfort in the fact that this is his last semester of classwork.  The next 2 years of medical school will be doing rotations and doing real doctor stuff!  We are looking forward to that!

-Last but certainly not least, we were able to have an ultrasound yesterday to see our baby!  It was so fun!  They told us that we are going to be having a BOY!!!  We honestly would have been happy to have either one but are excited to now have one of each :)  We keep telling Elise that she will be a big sister to a baby brother.  I don't know if she has any idea of what's to come, but she'll learn soon enough!

Here are some pictures we got of our little guy!  He is measuring just where he should be for 20 weeks and everything looked healthy and strong!

 Here are some of the pictures we got to take home.  Sorry, I don't have a scanner so the quality isn't great.  The top photo are his little feet.  Bottom pictures is his little profile.  I love his hand resting on his tummy.

The top picture in this one is THE shot.  It's a pretty good view of his little boy parts between the legs.  The bottom picture is of his face looking right at the camera.  You can see the dark circles which show where his eyes are and his nose.  It was so fun to get a sneak peak!  See you in a few months!

New Year's Eve

Every year, the Pugh family hosts a big New Year's Eve party/ homemade pizza party.  It's a hit every year and I know it's because those pizza's are so gosh dang yummy!!  You are missing out if you've never had a piece of this! 

Zack and his brother, Chad, looking macho for the camera!

The kids were lucky and got to have the first pizza!  

My SIL Alicia was kind enough to have everyone over to her home to eat for hours and make a huge mess.  Not only did she host but with the help of Sonia, they made about 12 pizzas!  I told you, the Pugh clan is an ARMY!

Elise had a blast playing with all of her cousins, and when that got boring she had fun playing with Roxy the dog.  I promise she willingly and happily got into this cage.  

Me, Zack and Alex enjoying our pizza!  My favorites of the night were the taco pizza and the alfredo pizza-delicious!

After everyone was full of pizza we broke out the games.  Zack took a turn playing his nephews at Super Smash Brothers just to show them all that he's still got it!  

Then the adults all played a rousing game of Scum!

Elise had a blast and decided that Aunt Hillary was her new best friend.  Even when she saw me she didn't want me over her- that never happens!  She had a blast while Hillary dressed her up as a princess and played with her all night long- so sweet!

The annual NYE party never disappoints!  We had a great year in 2012 and are excited for all that lies ahead in 2013- a new baby, Zack starting rotations, family trips and more!